Standard Chartered was on the brink of going to court because of allegations that it hid thousands of financial transactions with Iran. Instead, the bank settled without admitting any wrongdoing.

The scandal over British bank Standard Chartered is taking some interesting turns. This week New York's financial regulator charged the bank with concealing transactions for Iranian clients — breaking U.S. sanctions against Iran. Standard Chartered could lose its New York license, which would be devastating.

Standard Chartered denies passing Iranian funds through the U.S. But after other laundering cases, why is the U.S. popular for cleansing money?

Shares of the British bank Standard Chartered are tanking in London this morning — down some 25 percent. New York financial regulators say the bank concealed billions of dollars of illegal transactions for Iranian customers.

Standard Chartered could soon have its banking license revoked in the nation's financial center, because of allegations that the bank has been hiding tens of thousands of secret transactions with Iran.